The High Court has vacated a lis pendens registered over a property in County Carlow and restrained Patrick Doyle from registering another lis pendens over that property. The order followed the court’s finding that proceedings Doyle issued in 2016 were not pursued bona fide and had involved unreasonable delay.
The application was brought by John Coulston, a receiver appointed over the property. The court held that he was a person affected by the lis pendens within the meaning of section 123 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009. It relied on both its inherent jurisdiction and the statutory power to vacate a lis pendens.
Doyle issued plenary proceedings against AIB and the receiver on 3 November 2016, shortly after the receiver’s appointment. He registered a lis pendens over the folio on 28 November. The proceedings were never served, the summons was not renewed, no statement of claim was served and the court said no steps had been taken in the case for almost seven years.
Coulston said the registration had hindered his efforts to deal with the property, including attempts to sell or rent it and collect rent. Doyle disputed that the receiver was affected, arguing that he had no power of sale and that the lis pendens did not affect rent collection. The court rejected that position, finding that a receiver with authority to collect rents could be affected by a lis pendens even without a sale power. It said the evidence of the lis pendens’ effects on Coulston was uncontroverted.
At an earlier hearing, Doyle focused his submissions on the receiver’s appointment and authority, but gave no explanation for failing to serve or pursue the 2016 proceedings. The judge inferred that the proceedings and lis pendens had been used to interfere with the bank’s and receiver’s ability to deal with the property. The court found both unreasonable delay and a lack of bona fides, while noting that vacating the lis pendens did not itself determine the underlying pleadings.
The court also considered a challenge to the receiver’s continuation after the loan and mortgage were transferred to Everyday Finance. It held that a fully signed novation deed dated 10 March 2022 was valid and that the receiver remained validly appointed. The court said other arguments had already been adjudicated or could have been raised in earlier summary proceedings, and could not be reopened in this application.
The court vacated the lis pendens under both its inherent jurisdiction and section 123. It also restrained Doyle from registering a further lis pendens over the property, while leaving him free to issue new proceedings. The judgment was delivered by Mr Justice Cregan on 10 August 2023.